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[quote=jazzcat22;47409819]I get confused about what people mean when they talk about a walkable environment... QUOTE

For that matter, what is and isn't drivable also varies. I am already having difficulty on unfamiliar unlit roads at night or familiar roads in rain. That wouldn't affect day driving. Where I'll be living, I'm a few blocks from the post office and a supermarket. However, I might well drive to the supermarket rather than drag heavy bags a few blocks (and unpaved streets). Maybe major highway driving will go out the window, but 2-lane local roads might not be a problem. It all depends on what stops me from driving or cuts it back.

I can see minor driving around my new town and area for quite some time, and there are no interstates for many miles.

Hi, as soon as my DS graduates from high school, I will be looking to move out of Illinois due to weather (first and foremost!) Traffic and ridiculous cost of living. I am hoping to continue to work from home for the same company so commute time isn't hugely relevant. I like Atlanta and it's northern suburbs but my price range, under $200k, keeps me out of walkable areas. I live in a suburb of Chicago right now and have to get in my car for Everything! So done with that! I want to be within walking distance of groceries, restaurants, a bookstore, coffee shops. College towns seem to be best but difficult to identify houses in walkable areas that aren't overrun with students or in unsafe areas and still in my price range. I have a long "short list" right now (ATL, Roswell, Athens, Greenville SC, Oxford MS, chattanooga-really love the looks of Chatt but worried about the crime). Would love everyone's thoughts on the above as well as any other suggestions. I'm open to renting but would prefer to buy a townhouse or small house, 1000-1300sf. Most important thing is a vibrant safe downtown (can be quite small) that I can walk to. Decent medical care and continuing education also important. Thanks in advance for your input!

I lived in Atlanta a total of 5 1/2 years. You DO NOT want to live within 50 miles of Downtown! The traffic is brutal, ranking in the top 15 in the world for congestion. Roswell is just north of Atlanta city limits so avoid it as well. Athens is far enough away to be its own hub.. Chattanooga I've visited a few times and found it very appealing. Its a good 90 minutes from Atlanta and TN has no state income tax.

Greenville SC has a great downtown and is two hours either way from metro Atlanta or Charlotte.

Avoid MS. I think it is too far removed from conveniences you will miss associated with a big city. Something to think about two with Greenville. At least Athens or Chattanooga aren't too far from Atlanta. Healthcare, entertainment, air travel I would think about.

Is there a reason you are only looking toward the southeast? I'm in Texas and can vouch for
1. small towns between Austin and San Antonio (80 miles between them),
2. Huntsville, TX (Sam Houston State U) which is about an 55 miles north of Houston in a heavily wooded area.
3. Bryan/College Station, Texas (home of Texas A&M University), in the Brazos Valley. Similar to Athens, GA and about 90 minutes from either Houston to the southeast or Austin to the west.

4. Sherman, Texas - 60 miles due north of Dallas.
Again, no state income tax.

There is another way to think about the issue of walkability, and that is on a micro level. If your own particular neighborhood is walkable (has sidewalks, a supermarket and other places near near, etc.), then is doesn't much matter if the entire city or town is considered walkable.

For example, the greater Los Angeles area doesn't exactly spring to mind in association with the word "walkable". Yet there are many residential neighborhoods which exist in close proximity to commercial areas. Sixteen years ago I bought a town house without the conscious thought of walkability, but as it turned out I have the following within a one mile radius of my place, and much of it within a half-mile radius:

Several banks
A post office
A public library
A supermarket
Several barber shops
At least a dozen restaurants
A car dealership for the make of car I own
An Automobile Club office
A multi-plex cinema
A florist
Two opticians
At least one dental office
Two of the large chain type pharmacies
There is other stuff I don't use, such as jewlery stores.

Yet my own street is tree-lined and pleasant. The five main things which lie outside the one-mile radius, and which I actually use, are auto parts stores, Home Depot, Office Depot, a large bookstore, and places to get men's clothing. Even those are within five miles.

My point is if you choose a place with a reasonably good reputation for walkability you ought to be able to find more than one individual neighborhood along the lines of my own in the greater Los Angeles area.

But her budget is not more than $1,300/month for Houston. I know nothing even decent exists in the Southland at that price point.

This is always a puzzlement to me that people from elsewhere ask about a walkable place in the south.

I wonder if people know how truly oppressive 7 months of the year can be and to be out sweating in it? 95+ temperature and humidity. Daily storms. Walking a couple of beautiful miles to the store or library, carrying bags, and getting drenched in a frog Strangler? There goes your hair even if we aren't out in the rain. There is a reason we a known for and teased about our pony tails and hairspray ��

As a life long southerner who has lived around the world and love my land of birth, I prefer to live near a town with a walkable downtown where I can drive to to center or drive to an outdoor shopping mall. Get out of car, go to bookstores, window shop, library, have lunch or coffee, then pick up groceries and drive home. Then sit on my porch and watch the afternoon rain fall.

So suggest you go to interesting towns on city data and look at pictures to see if it offers you the picturesque excursion you desire, then look for the right home. i could recommend places but it depends upon what you like. Actually, I liked Greenville, SC and would go back if circumstances were right. I love my home north of Orlando but do foresee returning somewhere mid south.

You could say I am not sold on this walk ability concept.

I lived in Atlanta and metro Dallas, which is hotter than Georgia. its never been95+ for seven freaking months. Hell the ALL time record for hell in Dallas was like two months. Atlanta will his 90 but that's on its worse year may be six weeks and that's in a big city with lots of asphalt and concrete. A smaller town won't have the urban heat island effect.

"Diversity", of the Memphis type, has recently been inserted into Greeneville. Probably a government program, like the one that destroyed Milwaukee, and the one that's destroying the once-wonderful little towns in Southern Illinois, and Vilesack's deliberate importation of inner-city types into Des Moines. Things aren't bad - YET. But it's just a matter of time.

The college in Rome is a VERY small school. I've been and it's not like an Athens, Boulder, Knoxville or Chappell Hill where the School is the center of life and really is a draw.

Good idea. Where I am moving to, the streets are not paved- all gravel. The town recently paved right downtown (where the supermarket is) but then on to my house is not. We shall see. I am, I hope, a long way from considering this problem.

But her budget is not more than $1,300/month for Houston. I know nothing even decent exists in the Southland at that price point.

Yes, understood. But my point had nothing to do with moving to Southern California. My point was that looking for a residential neighborhood near a supermarket is a ticket to walkability because that suipermarket will probably have some other shops and stuff adjacent to it, such as a hair salon, restaurants, etc.

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